We’ve Reached Our Limit

Steam Packet boss Brian Thomson says the company has reached its limit over what it will offer officers to agree to its new terms and conditions.

This week union Nautilus said that industrial action and disruption to service seems likely due to the ongoing dispute between itself and the company.

The issue boils down to a disagreement over live on board conditions for crew, with the company returning to its former practice in a way that would see crews live on board for 7 or 14 days before having the same period off.

Steam Packet bosses say this is normal in the industry and has been agreed by the RMT union, but the Nautilus union, which largely represents the company’s officers, has so far rejected it.

There has also been public disagreement over calls for the gov to get involved or for independent arbitrators with the union saying the proposal will keep members from their families for prolonged periods.

Company MD Mr Thomson said: ‘We had discussed a four point plan and we thought that the people in the room from Nautilus at that point had agreed to it and were going to take it back to their members. But the next day they just asked for more money and it’s just like, where’s the limit? And unfortunately the company has reached its limit.

‘We’ve offered extra money, we’ve offered extra time off but we have a responsibility to manage things properly and I think we feel we’ve reached that point and we need Nautilus to come back the way and for our officers to remember what their duty is to the people of the Isle of Man.’

Mr Thomson said that under the terms offered by the company, the average pay for officers would be £65,000, with some on more, some on less, while working for ‘four and a half months of the year’, while receiving a full salary, as well as the live on-board bonus of 5%.

He said: ‘I’d like to think that the Isle of Man public see that as a generous offer and for Nautilus to absolutely slam it as they say in their press release, I just don’t know what they can be expecting.’

Despite the threat of industrial action, which the union has said would impact the island’s lifeline, Mr Thomson said that the company will always be able to put on a service.

He also said that the company has written to staff outlining the offer and saying if they aren’t willing to agree to them then it will begin issuing notice to terminate contracts, a practice that the union has criticised as ‘fire and rehire’ tactics.